Center for Global Studies

Center for Global Studies

The Center for Global Studies at Penn State will host Sean Grattan, visiting assistant professor of women, gender and sexuality studies at Gettysburg College, from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Thursday, April 9, in 124 Sparks Building on the University Park campus. All students, faculty, colleagues, and friends are welcome to attend.

Just as only the jester can tell the King the truth, satire performs a vital function in democratic society by using humor to broach taboo subjects, especially in times of crisis, according to a book by Penn State researchers.

The Center for Global Studies at Penn State launched its Brown Bag Lectures on Jan. 21 with a talk by Ana Cortejoso De Andrés, a doctoral student in the Department of Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. The series will continue from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. in 101 Botany Building throughout the spring semester.

The Center for Global Studies will begin its Brown Bag Lectures highlighting faculty research in global fields from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. on Oct. 15 in 101 Old Botany Building on the University Park campus.

The new Global Japan Project at Penn State will blaze new pathways for teaching and research to connect students and faculty in a wide variety of disciplines to their counterparts in Japan. Thanks to significant support from the Japan Foundation and Penn State, the project will develop enhanced research, exchange, and networking opportunities for students and faculty in humanities, social sciences, education, business, and international affairs. The Asian Studies Program and the Center for Global Studies, both in the College of the Liberal Arts, will help forge links among Japanese Studies, other academic colleges at Penn State, and peer institutions in Japan.

Starting Jan. 30, the Center for Global Studies (CGS) at Penn State will be hosting the Brown Bag Lecture Series from 1:15 to 2:15 p.m. Wednesdays throughout the semester, in 430 Burrowes. This lecture series focuses on interdisciplinary graduate research, and all students, faculty, colleagues and friends are welcome to attend. Attendees are invited to bring lunch; coffee, tea and cookies will be provided.

For K-12 teachers who would like a creative approach to bringing a global issue to the classroom, Penn State's Center for Global Studies is offering a workshop based on the "World on Trial," from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Nov. 3, in the Apfelbaum Family Courtroom in the Lewis Katz Building and will be simulcast to the University of Pittsburgh. The pilot episode of "World on Trial" deals with the 2004 French law banning the conspicuous display of religious symbols in public schools, most notably affecting the right of young Muslim women to wear traditional head scarves or other forms of cover. Workshop participants will watch the episode and hear from experts on the history of law, the significance of the law and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the curriculum and supplementary materials designed for use with the televised program.

The nexus of energy, security and stability will be the focus of a discussion featuring expert practitioners and policy advisers from Penn State and across the nation. The forum, titled "Energy, Security and Stability: Implications for Security, Prosperity and Sustainability for the United States and our Allies and Partners," will take place from 4 to 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 8, in Foster Auditorium at Paterno Library on Penn State's University Park campus. The event is free to the public.

Sophia McClennen, director of the Center for Global Studies at Penn State; professor of comparative literature, Spanish and women's studies; and affiliate faculty of the School of International Affairs at Penn State, will lead a joint research project titled "Geographies of Power: Justice, Revolution, and the Cultural Imagination," focused on social transformation and cultural conflict with the Worldwide University Network (WUN). The WUN, a consortium of 18 research universities from five continents, has funded the project.

A workshop titled "China's Emerging Technological Trajectory: Challenges and Opportunities" will be held beginning at 2:30 p.m. on Dec. 2 in Room 110 of the Business Building (Smeal Auditorium) on the University Park campus. The objective of this workshop is to develop a deeper, more profound understanding of the goals and intentions of the Chinese government regarding its strategy for promoting greater levels of indigenous innovation. Registration is not required and the event is free and open to the public.

Professor Sophia McClennen, a researcher of popular culture, international trade policy and cultural response to strife, has joined the Penn State School of International Affairs as an affiliate faculty member.

For several years, teams of Penn State students and researchers have worked to design structures, a social networking system, agricultural devices, and even a solar dryer for people in the developing world. Now, thanks to the newly established Center for Global Studies, The School for International Affairs is providing an opportunity to ground-test these technologies via live videoconference with colleagues at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda. In cooperation with the World Bank and the Global Knowledge Initiative, the School of International Affairs will present the first ever "From Lab to the Field: Putting Penn State's Innovations to Work to Solve Real World Challenges" at 8 a.m. on April 22, 118 Lewis Katz Building Auditorium, University Park campus.